How should you take creatine?

Creatine: How Much to Take, When, and Who It Helps

Reviewed 2026-10-15 · 5 sources · By Anthony Falcone

The short answer: Take 3–5 g of creatine monohydrate a day, at whatever time you'll remember. A loading phase (about 20 g a day for 5–7 days) fills your muscles faster but isn't needed: the daily dose gets you to the same place in about four weeks. It works best alongside resistance training, including in older adults.^2,4

Free calculator: Creatine Calculator: Your Daily Dose by Body Weight

Before you start

If you have kidney disease or take medicine that affects your kidneys, talk to your doctor before taking creatine. The rare reports of kidney problems in creatine users involved people with existing kidney disease or other medications.²
Mention creatine before a blood test. It raises creatinine, the marker used to estimate kidney function, which can make a healthy kidney look worse on paper.²
This guide is for healthy adults. Children, teenagers and pregnancy are outside it; ask your doctor.

3–5 g a day: the standard dose²
4 weeks to fill your muscles without a loading phase²
20–40% rise in muscle creatine and phosphocreatine¹
1.37 kg extra lean mass in older adults who trained, across 22 trials⁴

What creatine does

Creatine helps your muscles regenerate energy quickly during short, hard efforts. Your body makes some of it; about half of what you need comes from food, mostly meat and fish. A pound (about 450 g) of raw beef or salmon contains roughly 1–2 g.¹

On a normal diet your muscle stores sit at about 60–80% of capacity. Supplementing raises muscle creatine and phosphocreatine by 20–40%, which helps explain why it improves repeated high-intensity work.¹

How much to take

The standard dose is 3–5 g a day, or about 0.1 g per kg of body weight (0.1 × 70 kg = 7 g a day at 70 kg).²

Bigger athletes in heavy training may need 5–10 g a day to keep their stores full.¹

You don't need more than that, and the safety record at these doses is long. The International Society of Sports Nutrition reports that intakes up to 30 g a day for 5 years were safe and well tolerated in healthy people. In a 21-month study of college American football players taking 5–10 g a day, users and non-users showed no clinically meaningful differences in kidney, liver or muscle markers.¹

Do you need a loading phase?

No. Loading means about 20–25 g a day, split into four or five servings of 5 g, for 5–7 days. By body weight that's 0.3 g per kg, or 21 g a day at 70 kg.²

Loading is the fastest way to fill your muscles, but slower works too. In a classic study, muscle creatine rose by the same amount, about 20%, after 3 g a day for 28 days as after 20 g a day for 6 days.^2,1

Load if you want the full effect within a month, say before a competition. Otherwise the daily dose is simpler and avoids the 1–3 kg of body weight, mostly water, that a loading phase typically adds. If you do load, keep each serving at 10 g or less, because bigger single doses can upset your stomach.²

When to take it

Timing matters far less than taking it every day. A 2022 review found that creatine taken before training (from several hours before to just before) and after training (right after to several hours later) produced similar muscle gains in young and older adults.³

The same authors point out that timing studies are few and most had no placebo group, so nobody can yet say whether a best time exists.³

Taking creatine with carbohydrate, or with carbohydrate and protein, has been reported to increase how much your body retains, so a meal is a sensible default.¹

If you also use caffeine before training: there's some evidence caffeine may blunt part of creatine's effect, and the review suggests caffeine before the session and creatine after as a practical split.³

Over 40, and women

For older adults the clearest evidence comes with training. A meta-analysis of 22 randomised trials, with 721 men and women whose average ages ranged from 57 to 70, found that creatine during resistance training added 1.37 kg more lean mass than training alone, and more chest-press and leg-press strength.⁴

Without training the picture is weaker. Postmenopausal women taking 3 g a day for two years gained no lean mass, and reviewers conclude creatine alone is unlikely to bring large strength gains. A 2026 trial we covered found about 1.1 kg more lean mass from 10 g a day in 45- to 65-year-olds who didn't exercise, but reviewers caution that some lean-mass gains from creatine, at least in short studies, are extra body water.^2,5

In women, studies have found more muscle and strength with creatine during 10 weeks of resistance training in 19- to 22-year-olds, and better sprint and agility in elite female footballers. Not every study in women found a benefit.²

In postmenopausal women, a year of creatine with supervised resistance training slowed the loss of bone mineral at the hip compared with placebo.²

Side effects: water, hair, kidneys and cramps

Water: creatine can add water to your muscles in the first days, especially during loading. Several longer studies found no change in total body water relative to muscle.²

Hair: the worry traces back to a single study in male college rugby players. During loading, their DHT (a hormone linked to some hair loss) rose 56% and stayed 40% above baseline, while remaining within normal clinical limits. It has never been replicated, 10 of 12 other studies found no change in testosterone, and no study has reported hair loss in people taking creatine.²

Kidneys: in healthy people, controlled research shows no kidney damage at recommended doses. Creatine does raise creatinine in blood and urine, which is why a routine kidney test can look worse than it is.²

Cramps and dehydration: in a season-long study of college American football players training in heat, those who chose to take creatine had less cramping and fewer heat illnesses than those who didn't.²

What to do with this

Take 3–5 g of creatine monohydrate every day.²
Skip loading unless you need the effect within a month. If you load, keep servings at 10 g or less.²
Take it at a time you'll stick to. With a meal is a good default.^3,1
Pair it with resistance training. That's where the evidence is strongest, at any age.^4,2
Mention it before a blood test so a raised creatinine isn't misread.²

How sure is this?

Three of the reviews here (Kreider 2017, Antonio 2021, Candow 2022) are by creatine researchers who declare ties to the supplement industry, such as research funding, donated creatine and advisory roles. The older-adult meta-analysis declares none.^1,2,3,4
Timing studies are few, and most lacked a placebo group.³
There's much less research in women, and the results are mixed.²
The safety conclusions apply to healthy people at recommended doses.²

Common questions

How much creatine should I take per day?

3–5 g of creatine monohydrate, or about 0.1 g per kg of body weight. Bigger athletes in heavy training may need 5–10 g.^2,1

When is the best time to take creatine?

Whenever you'll take it consistently. Before and after training produced similar gains in the studies so far, and taking it with a meal containing carbohydrate may help your body retain it.^3,1

Do I need a creatine loading phase?

No. In a classic study, 3 g a day for 28 days raised muscle creatine as much as 20 g a day for 6 days. Loading is only worth it if you want the full effect within a month.²

Is creatine good for women?

Several studies in women found more muscle, strength or sprint performance with creatine, though not all of them. In postmenopausal women, creatine with resistance training slowed bone loss at the hip over a year.²

Does creatine cause hair loss?

There's no good evidence that it does. The idea comes from one small study that found a rise in DHT within normal limits. It was never replicated, and no study has reported hair loss.²

Is creatine bad for your kidneys?

Not in healthy people at recommended doses, according to controlled research. It raises creatinine, which can be mistaken for a kidney problem on a blood test. If you already have kidney disease, ask your doctor first.^2,1

Sources

Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2017. Position stand. doi.org/10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z
Antonio J, Candow DG, Forbes SC, et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2021. Review. doi.org/10.1186/s12970-021-00412-w
Candow DG, Forbes SC, Roberts MD, et al. Creatine O'Clock: Does Timing of Ingestion Really Influence Muscle Mass and Performance? Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2022. Review. doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2022.893714
Chilibeck PD, Kaviani M, Candow DG, Zello GA. Effect of creatine supplementation during resistance training on lean tissue mass and muscular strength in older adults: a meta-analysis. Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine, 2017. Meta-analysis. doi.org/10.2147/OAJSM.S123529
Chun J, Liu Y, Kibler GL, Lee H, et al. Effects of creatine supplementation with and without exercise and diet intervention on body composition, cognitive function, and markers of health in middle-aged and older adults. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2026. Randomised trial. doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2026.2716273

The Supplement Stack Protocol covers creatine alongside vitamin D3+K2, magnesium and omega-3: a dosing and timing chart, brand recommendations, a synergy and interaction guide, and budget vs premium options. Supplement Stack Protocol · Hypertrophy Protocol